Earlham College is committed to providing a safe and healthy working and learning environment for the students, faculty, staff and visitors on its campus. As of July 1, 2016, Earlham College is a smoke and tobacco-free campus.

Living-Learning Communities

For students who want a more engaged and intentional educational environment, living-learning communities are a great opportunity for merging academics and out-of-the-classroom education. In the years of research done on the living-learning community model in colleges across the nation, living-learning communities have consistently been shown to improve a student’s educational experience at the institution as a whole. Earlham College offers several different living-learning community options for students to be involved in: theme houses, friendship houses, and residence hall communities.

Theme Houses

A Theme House community is a group of students living together in an Earlham College house to pursue shared educational and involvement goals. These houses are more permanent communities on campus and are reviewed regularly by the Office of Residence Life and Campus Life Advisory Committee. Each Theme House has a faculty advisor who leads and facilitates the Theme House from year to year with student conveners and house members.

The current Themes House communities on campus are:

African/African-American Studies

Buddhist Studies

Cooperative Farming/Sustainable Agriculture

Environmental Studies

French Studies

German Studies

Interfaith Studies

Japanese Studies

Jewish Cultural Center

LGBT

Literary Arts

Outdoor Education

Quaker Studies

Spanish/Hispanic Studies

Space-permitting, new Theme House applications may be accepted and reviewed by the Office of Residence Life and the Campus Life Advisory Committee during the spring semester for the upcoming academic year.

Friendship Houses

A Friendship House community is a group of students living together in an Earlham College house to pursue shared educational and involvement goals. What makes Friendship Houses different from Theme Houses is that Friendship Houses are completely organized and managed by students. These houses do not have a faculty advisor. These houses also exist for only one academic year and new Friendship Houses are accepted for the next academic year.

The current Friendship House communities for the 2016-17 academic year are:

Food Education

Globally Engaged

Himalayan

International

Music

Women's Health

Students can submit a group application for a Friendship House in spring semester before the applicable academic year. The Office of Residence Life along with the House Selection Committee review proposals and announce the successful applicants – typically before Spring Break.

Residence Hall Communities

Residence Hall communities are floor or floors of students living together around shared values and/or educational or service goals. These communities are reviewed every several years by the Office of Residence Life. Students self-select into the communities as space allows, agreeing to live by the tenants of the community.

Currently, there are three residence hall communities on-campus:

First Year Experience Community

The First Year Experience Community is an intentionally designed community for all first year students focused on assisting students in making a successful academic and social transition to Earlham College. Structured programs and supplemental staffing help to achieve this goal.

Wellness Community

The Wellness Community is committed to living a total wellness lifestyle. This goal is manifested in the community’s commitment to zero substance use, such as tobacco and alcohol.

Cooperative Community

The Cooperative Community is committed to being self-sustaining and independent while developing a strong social community. Members divide up and complete community chores (i.e. cleaning) as well as participate in weekly floor dinners.

Earlham College, an independent, residential college, aspires to provide the highest-quality undergraduate education in the liberal arts, including the sciences, shaped by the distinctive perspectives of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).